


that's christmas to me

by shadowswillscream



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Merry Pitchmas Gift Exchange 2018, semi high school au, there's just not a lot of mention of school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 05:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17156327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowswillscream/pseuds/shadowswillscream
Summary: Winter vacation seemed hopeless with Beca’s parents fighting more and more everyday. When her girlfriend, Chloe, invites her on a family vacation to a winter cabin, things turn for the better.





	that's christmas to me

“Come with me. There won’t be any parents yelling and there’ll be dogs and ice skating and sitting by the fire and a fun road trip and dogs, did I mention dogs? Specifically the family dogs who you love and of course, me. I’ll be there and we can be together the entire time!” Chloe says to her just two days before winter break is supposed to begin.

Beca wants to think her girlfriend is crazy for asking such a thing on such short notice, especially since she knows its at least a day and half’s drive to get to the cabin, but it really wouldn’t be  _ her _ Chloe if she didn’t ask such things 

“Have you asked your parents?” Beca asks, closing her locker and slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

“No but-” 

“Chloe,” Beca shakes her head, taking her girlfriend’s hand, “I don’t think-”

“Bec, don’t worry as soon as I tell them the situation they’ll be more than welcoming-” 

“The situation? No Chloe, please don’t tell them about my parents. I want your parents to like, like me. You know?” 

“Beca,” Chloe frowns, “they’re not going to dislike you just because your parents argue a lot and don’t have time for Christmas.”

Sighing, Beca walks with Chloe towards the school exit. “I dunno.” 

True to herself, Chloe pouts, “Oh please! Besides, doesn’t coming to my family’s cabin and actually doing something every day sound better than being at home and doing nothing? Mind you, while your parents are doing nothing but fighting?” 

“Depends. Will it be cold?” Beca cringes at the cold breeze that hits them when they exit the warm high school.

Chloe rolls her eyes, although rather playfully, “Of course, but I’ll be there to keep you warm.” 

“Hmm, I dunno Chlo.” 

“Oh c’mon, please?” 

Beca frowns, turning her attention to the  _ much more _ interesting sidewalk. “What if my parents say no?”

Feeling her hand being squeezed, Beca looks up at Chloe, who seems entirely unaffected by the cold winds. 

“Then we’ll go from there, but you won’t know until you try.” 

 

It doesn’t entirely surprise Beca when she gets a grunt from her father when she asks about going with Chloe’s family. Her mother isn’t entirely responsive either, she just waves Beca off with a ‘yeah, sure, whatever you want’. 

 

She double checks the next evening when she’s packing and Chloe’s sending her a text after text about all the things they’re going to do together, how much Chloe’s parents are absolutely thrilled she’s coming with, and how excited Chloe is that she won’t be the only one without their significant other there. Apparently all three of Chloe’s brothers will be bringing their significant others as well.

 

“Are you sure I can go tomorrow? I won’t be back until the 31st.” Beca asks carefully, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

 

“ _ Yes _ ,” her father hisses,  _ “ _ we said that’s  _ fine _ , Beca.” 

 

-

 

The drive to the cabin is rather quiet with just Chloe and her parents. It’s 4am and she can barely keep her eyes open to eat the breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Beale got for the early morning ride. Max and Harper, the family dogs are sitting in the backseat, more awake that Beca thinks she ever will be at 4am. When she finishes her breakfast, she half expects Chloe to start a quiet conversation or ask to watch something on Netflix, but instead she gets Chloe shoving an earbud into her tired hands to listen to music. 

 

Beca half smiles, feeling affection for Chloe’s tired state; sweats and a messy bun. She’s not sure when she falls asleep or exactly how, she just remembers putting the bud into her ear and closing her eyes for just a moment. 

 

She’s rudely awoken by someone poking her nose and when her eyes flick open, it’s Chloe with a grin on her face. 

 

“We’re getting lunch.” 

 

“What time is it?” 

 

“It’s 11.” 

 

Frowning, Beca throws her arm over her face to block out the light, “Too early.” 

 

“I can bring something back for you. What do you want?” 

 

“I dunno a pop and a chicken sandwich?” 

 

“Sure thing.” Chloe kisses her cheek. 

 

-

 

When Beca thinks of cabins, she thinks of something kind of small, but that’s not what the Beale Family Cabin is at all to Beca. It’s almost as big as the Beale’s house, maybe the same. Though, Beca supposes it has to be to home the Beale’s plus whatever guests they want.

 

Regardless of how big the cabin is, it feels just as welcoming and warm as their house back home. Chloe’s oldest brother, Connor, had come the night before to warm the place up and help bring groceries to stock the place with food. The entire cabin is decorated to fit the holidays and there’s a pine-like smell that’s not too strong filling the air. 

 

The dogs immediately run into the house as soon as they’re let out of the car, nearly knocking Beca over.

 

“Conor! Are you here?” Mr. Beale calls out, walking with the luggage and through the front of the house.

 

Conor comes out of the hallway, big smile the same as all the other Beale’s, wearing plaid pajamas. “Hey!” 

 

Beca doesn’t quite recognize him at first. She really only remembers him in brief moments, being quite a bit older than the rest of his siblings. He was almost finishing high school when she and Chloe were just starting kindergarten. Connor had been an unexpected surprise when Mrs. Beale was finishing up her junior year of college. Chloe had mentioned that Mr. Beale had stepped up to become a full-time father to let his, at the time fiance, finish up her last year of college. 

 

“Conner, it’s 6! How are you in your pajamas still?” Mrs. Beale asks with a hint of amusement. 

 

“Mom, it’s Conner, I’m sure he never ever got out of bed.” 

 

Conner frowns, running down the hall only to shove her a little, “Shut up. Shaia and I were watching movies in the main room, so yes, I  _ have  _ been out of bed.” 

 

“Wow, you moved two feet from the bed to the couch.” 

 

Connor scoffs then looks to Beca, “So this is Beca?” 

 

“Yes, this is my girlfriend, Beca.” Chloe grins, looking to Beca. 

 

Beca feels warmth spread through her cheeks at the mention of girlfriend. Sure, they’ve been dating for almost a year, but something about it still never feels real. 

 

“Oooh” Conner sing-songs, “Chloe got a girlfriend huh? Didn’t think you’d ever land one of those.” 

 

“Shut up.” Chloe pulls on Beca’s hand, “C’mon Beca, I’ll introduce you into an actual human, Connor’s wife.” 

 

Connor puts and hand to his chest, “Wow, that digs.” 

 

They spend most of the evening wrapped up, watching movies while the fire crackles in the background. Beca doesn’t pay too much attention to what’s playing on the tv, she mostly plays with Chloe’s fingers and pokes at her sides to get her attention. Eventually, she convinces Chloe to do something else with her and they settle into Chloe’s room, playing a game on Chloe’s phone. 

 

“Tomorrow we can go ice skating.” Chloe mumbles, drawing circles on Beca’s stomach. “And for a hike by the farm.”    
  
“What farm?” Beca taps on the phone. 

 

“There’s a little farm a few miles out. They have some reindeer, goats, a couple of horses, and some dogs.” 

 

“Damn. That’s a lot of animals. Whatever you wanna do Chlo.” 

 

“Do you even know how to ice skate?” 

 

Beca pauses the game, looking at Chloe, “And what if I don’t?” 

 

Chloe kisses her forehead and Beca frowns, “Then tomorrow will be fun.” 

 

The next day is  _ not _ fun. 

 

At least not at first. 

 

Ice skating is hard, she decides, too hard. It makes her ankles ache and every time she hits the ice she feels like she’s going to feel sore for weeks to come. 

 

The others keep encouraging her, Connor tells her to keep her knees a little bent, Chloe tells her to try to stay where people have skated the most, Shaia explains how she still falls, and their parents just keep repeating that she can actually do this thing. 

 

By the fifth fall, Beca crawls to the edge, “I give up!” 

 

“Aw,” Chloe skates so easily over, “C’mon we can hold hands and maybe that will help.” 

 

Beca rolls her eyes, trying to pry off the skates, “We fell doing that too Chloe, no thanks.” 

 

“What about broomball.” Connor shouts, skating circles around his parents. 

 

“We can’t play broomball until your brothers get here.” Mr. Beale explains. 

 

Beca falls back into the snow to lay down, staring at the white sky, “Thank God.” 

 

Chloe just laughs and Beca seriously thinks about throwing snow at her, “Don’t worry, you won’t have to wear skates for broomball.” 

 

Beca lifts her head up to glare at Chloe, “What kind of trick is that?” 

 

“It’s not trick,” Chloe starts unlacing Beca’s skates, “I’ll explain back at the cabin over hot chocolate. Sound good?” 

 

“Hot chocolate sounds great.” 

 

-

 

They don’t end up going to the farm. 

 

Which is fine by Beca since she’s exhausted from trying to ice skate. She and Chloe end up curled by the fire in the family room watching Netflix. When Chloe’s two other brothers arrive she somehow gets wrangled into charades. 

 

Caleb is a only two years older, a sophomore in college, and brought his long time boyfriend Ben. Ben had music theory with her back when they were in high school and Beca always remembers Caleb at the quarterback the girls swooned over, you know the attractive guy that had always fallen with the more popular crowd, until he came out his junior year of high school. 

 

He’s all too good at charades and she questions whether or not there’s some sort of actual telepathy going on between him and Ben or if they’ve really just become  _ that _ couple that consistently knows what the other is thinking and can finish each other's sentences. 

 

Charlie on the other hand is struggling with his somewhat new girlfriend. Beca thinks her name is Gen. He’s the one Beca has to thank for introducing her to Chloe. Chloe at the time was struggling to fit in and somehow thought that Beca, the girl who punched third grade boys in trying to defend first graders, would be a good friend for Chloe. Chloe tells Beca that he saw what she sees in Beca today. 

 

Beca’s still trying to wrap her head around how that can be, but whatever. It worked out and Beca’s grateful for it. 

 

Somehow by the end of the game, Caleb has Connor in a headlock and Chloe, Charlie, and Shaia are throwing popcorn at Mr. Beale for cheating. Beca laughs at the ridiculousness of it all and that’s when the dogs start barking.

 

-

 

It’s the next morning and Chloe’s filling her cup of hot chocolate with  _ way _ too many marshmallows. 

 

Beca rubs her feet against Max, who’s laying down by her feet, and shakes her head. “Chloe, that’s way too many.” 

 

“Shush. There’s no such thing.”

 

“Don’t fill mine up like that.” 

 

“Don’t worry, marshmallow police, I won’t.” Chloe teases, grabbing another mug and filling it near the brim with hot chocolate. 

 

“Marshmallow police?” Beca raises her brow, watching as Chloe carefully walks over with the two mugs. A few marshmallows fall and Harper immediately eats them and follows Chloe in hopes of more dropping. 

 

“Harper you’re going to trip me.” Chloe reaches over Harper and hands the mug without marshmallows overflowing to Beca, “Here.” 

 

Beca smiles at her, grabbing the cup carefully, “Thanks.” She glances around the living area and looks back to Chloe who’s trying to settle on the couch and fend off Harper who’s now try to get at close as she can to Chloe. “Where is everyone?” 

 

“They went on an early morning hike, but I think Charlie’s girlfriend said she’d be staying back to cook breakfast.” 

  
“You didn’t go?” 

 

Chloe shrugs, “I wanted to spend time with you.”    
  
“That’s gay.” 

 

Chloe smirks, “Well I  _ am _ gay for you, so…” 

 

Beca just laughs. 

 

When the others get back it’s more like brunch and they gather around the dining table to discuss the plans for the day. They all end up agreeing on playing cards, making lunch together, and then heading to the farm, and ending the day with dinner and down time. 

 

Beca finds she’s not that great at cards, but she definitely doesn’t mind it because Chloe insists on being as close as she can to ‘help out’. 

  
Somehow, like always, Caleb has Connor in a headlock by the end of it all. 

 

It feels like family nonetheless. 

 

The walk to the farm is fairly long, but Chloe had mentioned it was a few miles away. She’s grateful the wind is pretty much nonexistent otherwise she might not have even tried to go. 

 

“So these people just… have reindeer and they let people come over to pet them?” Beca asks. 

 

“They’re an old family friend, so they let us come and visit when we’re in the area.” Mrs. Beale explains, “They’ve been raising these animals for a few generations now. It’s just something they like doing, taking care of animals. They do a bit of rescuing too I believe.” 

 

Reindeer are a lot more intimidating in person. They’re not huge creatures, but their antlers make Beca a little nervous to be around them, so she ends up checking out the goats first. They’re exceptionally friendly, so much so that Beca finds herself having to keep them at bay from trampling each other to get some affection. 

 

She’s somehow convinced later to help feed the reindeer by Caleb and Charlie. The reindeer are kind of just like really big dogs with antlers. They follow her around thinking she has all of the food and Chloe laughs at her telling her how they love her now. 

 

Beca scoffs, “They love the  _ food _ .” 

 

Whatever the case, it’s kind of cool that she gets to touch one of these creatures. 

 

-

 

Days pass and it surprises Beca she never seems to grow bored of the Beale family. Sure, Chloe’s brothers can be a  _ bit _ of an annoyance at times, but she’s found that if she retreats to Chloe’s room, she’s either left alone to relax with music or Chloe’s following behind closely to sneak in cuddles and kisses. 

 

She learns what broomball and it’s a lot easier than ice skating, although she does end up falling once or twice, but she’s starting to figure out how fall better. If such a thing actually exists. It ends up being partners against partners which makes Beca feel at least a little competitive about the whole thing. Sports have never been her thing, but since Chloe gives her that grin like she’s gonna win, Beca can’t help but feel like she needs to prove Chloe wrong. 

 

She doesn’t end up winning, but Chloe mentions something about deserving a winner’s kiss so it doesn’t feel entirely like a loss. 

 

Before she even realizes it’s Christmas and she’s unwrapping presents with everyone and eating pancakes. Some of the more upbeat Christmas songs play like Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree plays to fill up the occasional silence. After presents and breakfast, they all gather in the family room and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 

 

“I actually kind of like this movie.” Beca mumbles, while she rests her head on Chloe’s shoulder. “The ending is dumb, but I can get behind this green dude.” 

 

“Did you, Beca Mitchell, just say you like a movie?” Chloe gasps a little too loudly. 

 

Ben immediately looks over at them, his arm slung over Caleb’s abdomen. “What do you mean by that?” 

 

Chloe shrugs, “Beca doesn’t like movies.” 

 

Ben seems to lose his mind and that’s when she learns he’s a film major. He goes on to try to defend movies, how much work it takes to make one, and the art behind it. 

 

Caleb takes his hand, “Ben, it’s okay, she’s not saying your movies suck.” 

 

“But, movies! They’re everything!” Ben looks at Caleb. 

 

Everyone just kind of chuckles at Ben’s dramatics and somehow it makes Beca feel better that she’s not being considered dramatic.

 

When they have to pack things up a few days later, Beca finds herself feeling more bummed than she thought she would be. She’s been enjoying this time spent with Chloe and her family. She’s enjoying the times she’s been able to just be with Chloe without having to worry about school or her parents, the times they were able to get carried away in kisses and cuddles. 

 

“Ugh I can’t believe we have to go to school in a few days.” Chloe groans. 

 

“Yeah, I’m not looking forward to homework.” Beca sighs, trying to figure out how she managed to pack her suitcase the first time. 

 

“At least it’s our last semester of high school.” 

 

“Yeah, but then we have college in the fall, so the homework never stops.”

 

Chloe frowns, “Yeah.” 

 

“Hey Chlo,” Beca looks away from her suitcase to Chloe, who’s sitting at the end of the bed, “thanks for inviting me.” 

 

Chloe beams, “Thanks for coming with and putting up with my family.” 

 

Beca sits down next to Chloe, taking her hands and kissing the tops of them, “I didn’t even feel like I had to put up with them. At least not, most of the time. I like your family.” 

 

Grinning, Chloe kisses her cheek and Beca feels warm all over, “They like you too.” 

  
Beca smiles, “I love you Chloe Beale.” 

 

She doesn’t miss the look on Chloe’s face, the look of sheer and utter happiness, the tears welling up in Chloe’s eyes, “I love you too, Beca Mitchell.” 


End file.
